I know this has nothing to do with Neil Gaiman, but seeing as how they were friends, I thought maybe someone would know the answer to my questions and could help me...Ok, I had a question in "V for Vendetta" about whether or not the references to lines from plays, etc. were real or did Moore make them up for the sole purpose of his story?

For example:

"Vi veri veniversum vivus vici"

or...

"They say there's a broken light for every heart on broadway
They say that life's a game and then they take the board away
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
Then leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret

In no longer pretty cities
There are fingers in the kitties
There are warrants, forms and chitties
And a jackboot on the stair
There's sex and death and human grime
In monochrome for one thin dime
And at least the trains run on time
But they don't go anywhere

Facing their responsibilities
Either on their backs on knees
There are ladies who just simply freeze
And dare not turn away
And the widows who refuse to cry
Will be dressed in garter and bow-tie
And be taught to kick their legs up high
In this vicious cabaret

At last the 1998 show!
The ballet on the burning stage!
The documentary seen Upon the fractured screen
The dreadful poem scrawled upon the crumpled page!

There's a policeman with an honest soul
That has seen whose head is on the pole
And he grunts and fills his briar bowl
With a feeling of unease
Then he briskly frisks the torn remains
For a fingerprint or crimson stains
And endeavours to ignore the chains
That he walks in to his knees

While his master in the dark nearby
Inspects the hands with brutal eye
That have never brushed a lover's thigh
But have squeezed a nation's throat
And he hungers in his secret dreams
For the harsh embrace of cruel machines
But his lover is not what she seems
And will not leave a note

At last the 1998 show!
The situation tragedy!
Grand opera slick with soap!
Cliff-hangers with no hope!
The water-colour in the flooded gallery

There's a girl who'll push but will not shove
And she's desperate for her father's love
She believes the hand beneath the glove
May be one she needs to hold
Though she doubts her host's moralities
She decides that she is more at ease
In the land of Doing-As-You-Please
Than outside in the cold

But the backdrops peel and the sets give way
And the cast get eaten by the play
There's a murderer at the matinee
There are dead men in the aisles
And the patrons and the actors too
Are uncertain if the show is through
And with sidelong looks await their cue
But the frozen mask just smiles

At last the 1998 show!
The torch-song no-one ever sings!
The curfew chorus line!
The comedy divine!
The bulging eyes of puppets strangled by their strings!

There's thrills and chills and girls galore
There's sing-songs and surprises!
There's something here for everyone
Reserve your seat today!
There's mischiefs and malarkies
But no queers, or yids, or darkies
Within this bastard's carnival
This vicious cabaret!"

It took me a while to find that last one, but I can't find who wrote it, so I didn't know whether or not Moore wrote it as a part of his story or if it really was some line used in some old play or something.

I'm sure there are others, but those are the only two that pop into my had at this instant...

Thanks!

To the best of my knowledge, "This Vicious Cabaret" was created by Alan Moore. It seems highly unlikely that all that the plot specific aspects of the song are just a coincedence. That said, the Cabaret song makes references to the KKK, Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will," and a 1940's song by the Mills Brothers, a black quartet.

"Vi veri veniversum vivus vici" translates to ""by the power of truth, I, a living man, have conquered the universe." It was taken from Kip Marlowe's Dr. Faustus.

Moore references a huge variety of literature and pop culture, from Thomas Moore to the Rolling Stones.

'This Viscious Caberet' was recorded by David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) and is on the 1986 album David J: On Glass. Sounds quite similar to 'Who Killed Mr Moonlight' by Bauhaus. On Glass is about to be re-released in early April.


There is a reference in the line 'At last! The 1998 Show' to the old sxities sketch show At Last! The 1948 Show. (At Last! The 1948 show featured Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor (Who went on to form The Goodies), Marty Feldman (Who instructed Gene Wilder to Walk This Way in Young Frankenstein and so inspired Aerosmith) and John Cleese (Who went on to count alot of money).It's a pop culture reference, oft missed by annotation sites and the like so I thought I'd pop it in.

Just a few notes. Alan Moore, a friend of David J, asked the latter to write the music to "This Vicious Cabaret"; David J also composed some other soundtrack songs (instrumental only) for the "V for Vendetta" novel. The songs appeared on Davis J's "V for Vendetta" vinyl EP, which has just been reissued in CD format.
Apart for a few similar intro notes, Bauhaus's "Who killed Mr. Moonlight" is nothing like "V for Vendetta". Both are enthralling and powerful songs worth listening to, but they are very different.

I would recommend buying the new EP to any fan of Alan Moore, as it contains another song from the illustrated novel (from the Kitty Kat Keller) and the original demo version of "V for Vendetta".

BTW, for those interested, David J and Alan Moore also recorded together "The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels" and "The Birth Caul" (mostly spoken CDs), and, before those, the one and only "Sinister Ducks" record.

Most notably, John Cleese and Graham Chapman went on to form "Monty Python".